Posted By Daniel Greenfield On March 29, 2013 @ 11:49 am In The Point | 117 Comments

Jim Carrey, Post-Career

The last time Jim Carrey starred in a live action hit movie was 2003 with Bruce Almighty. The closest thing to that since was Yes Man in 2008 which didn’t even cross the 100 million dollar mark at the American box office. Fun With Dick and Jane barely made it across the domestic 100 million mark and that was back in 2005.

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events did make it to 118 million dollars, but unfortunately its production budget was 140 million dollars.

Jim Carrey skipped the sequel to Bruce Almighty, his biggest hit, and the job was handed over to Steve Carell. Now instead of Steve Carell taking Jim Carrey’s leftovers, it’s the other way around, with Carrey appearing in a supporting role in Steve Carell’s The Amazing Burt Wonderstone. And that bombed too.

Carrey’s career has been sliding since 2003. His few successes are in cartoons where no one has to look at his actual face. And even well-known properties like A Christmas Carol (domestic box office 140 million, production budget 200 million) seem to wither at his touch.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins, his last actual starring role, had a modest budget of 55 million and didn’t take in much above that. And that was in 2011. Whatever his salary was for walking around talking to some penguins, it was probably a good deal less than the 20 mil he was taking in during his prime career days.

So if you want to understand why Jim Carrey is arguing about you with gun control on Twitter, it’s because his career and personal life have been in decline for a while and he’s looking for attention.

It’s rarely celebrities on the way up who spend their time trolling for attention. They may show up to make faux sincere ‘demand a plan’ videos, but they don’t throw semi-literate tantrums on Twitter. Usually. It’s usually those who are on the way down, like Jason Biggs, who went from starring in annual comedy releases to doing the voice of one of the Ninja Turtles, who seek out that kind of attention, hoping to score some points and get some attention by bashing Republicans.

Paying attention to them should go under the same rules as paying attention to any troll. You may be scoring points, but you’re also feeding the trolls. Some points may be worth feeding the troll. Some trolls may not be worth feeding under any circumstances.

Jim Carrey is pushing 50 and trying to be relevant to a new generation. And so far he has failed very badly. The old Jim Carrey talked out of his ass. The new Jim Carrey launches liberal political diatribes on Twitter and stars in political videos for Will Ferrell. You can respond to it, but just remember that you’re helping the “reinvention” of Jim Carrey’s image. And if that reinvention fails, look for him to show up as the wacky neighbor on a Canadian sitcom near you.